单选题As used in the third sentence of the second paragraph, the word "utter" means ______.

单选题Simply flipping through a book may not seem like the best way to scan it, but a Japanese research group at Tokyo University has created new software that allows hundreds of pages to be scanned within minutes. Scanning paper is normally a tedious process with each page having to be inserted into a flatbed scanner, but the team led by professor Masatoshi Ishikawa use a high speed camera that takes 500 pictures a second to scan pages as they are flipped. Normal scanners can only scan the information that is actually before them on the page. The new scanner being developed is able to deal with the fact that pages that are being flipped are normally deformed in some fashion. "It takes a shot of the shape, then it calculates the shape and uses those calculations to film the scanning," Ishikawa said, explaining the system used to reconstruct the original page. "As it can film while understanding the underlying shape, it's very easy to then take the pages that are being scanned and save them as a normal flat copy." The current system is able to scan an average 200～250 page book in a little over 60 seconds using basic computer hardware that is available off-the-shelf. While it now requires extra time to process the scanned images, the researchers hope to eventually make the technology both faster and much smaller. "In the more distant future, once it becomes possible to put all of this processing on one chip and then put that in an iPad or iPod, one could scan just using that chip. At that point, it becomes possible to scan something quickly to save for later reading," Ishikawa said. Being able to scan books with an iPhone may be further off, but Ishikawa says that a commercial version of the large-scale computer based scanning system could be available in two to three years. While the technology has the potential to take paper books into the digital age, it remains to be how publishers will react to people scanning their books while just flipping through them.

单选题"In the long run," as John Maynard Keynes observed, "we are all dead. " True. But can the (1) run be elongated in a way that makes the long run (2) ? And if so, how, and at what cost? People have dreamt of (3) since time immemorial. They have sought it since the first alchemist put an elixir of (4) on the same shopping list as a way to turn lead into gold. They have (5) about it in fiction, from Rider Haggard's "She" to Frank Herbert's "Dune". And now, with the growth of (6) knowledge that has marked the past few decades, a few researchers believe it might be within (7) . To think about the question, it is important to understand why organisms-people (8) -age in the first place. People are like machines: they (9) That much is obvious. However, a machine can always be (10) A good mechanic with a stock of spare parts can keep it going (11) . Eventually, no part of the (12) may remain, but it still carries on, like Lincoln's famous axe that had three new handles and two new blade. The question, of course, is whether the machine is worth (13) . It is here that people and nature (14) . Or, to put it slightly (15) , two bits of nature disagree with each other. From the individual's point of view, (16) is an imperative. You cannot reproduce unless you are alive. A fear of death is a sensible evolved response and, since (17) is a sure way of dying, it is no surprise that people want to stop it in its tracks. Moreover, even the appearance of ageing can be (18) . It (19) the range of potential sexual partners who find you attractive-since it is a sign that you are not going to be (20) all that long to help bring up baby-and thus, again, curbs your reproduction.

单选题The case of Samsung Electronics demonstrates that

单选题In the past, American colleges and universities were created to serve a dual purpose to advance learning and to offer a chance to become familiar with bodies of knowledge already discovered to those who wished it. To create and to impart, these were the distinctive features of American higher education prior to the most recent, disorderly decades of the twentieth century. The successful institution of higher learning had never been one whose mission could be defined in terms of providing vocational skills or as a strategy for resolving societal problems. In a subtle way Americans believed higher education to be useful, but not necessarily of immediate use. Another purpose has now been assigned to the mission of American colleges and universities. Institutions of higher learning--public or private--commonly face the challenge of defining their programs in such a way as to contribute to the service of the community. This service role has various applications. Most common are programs to meet the demands of regional employment markets, to provide opportunities for upward social and economic mobility, to achieve racial, ethnic, or social integration, or more generally to produce "productive" as compared to " educated" graduates. Regardless of its precise definition, the idea of a service-university has won acceptance within the academic community. One need only be reminded of the change in language describing the two-year college to appreciate the new value currently being attached to the concept of a service-related university. The traditional two-year college has shed its pejorative "junior" college label and is generally called a "community" college, a clearly value-laden expression representing the latest commitment in higher education. Even the doctoral degree, long recognized as a required "union card" in the academic world, has come under severe criticism as the pursuit of learning for its own sake and the accumulation of knowledge without immediate application to a professor"s classroom duties. The idea of a college or university that performs a triple function--communicating knowledge to students, expanding the content of various disciplines, and interacting in a direct relationship with society--has been the most important change in higher education in recent years. This novel development, however, is often overlooked. Educators have always been familiar with those parts of the two-year college curriculum that have a "service" or vocational orientation. It is important to know this. But some commentaries on American postsecondary education tend to underplay the impact of the attempt of colleges and universities to relate to, if not resolve, the problems of society. What"s worse, they obscure a fundamental question posed by the service-university--what is higher education supposed to do?

单选题Thomas Hardy's impulses as a writer, all of which indulged in his novels, were numerous and divergent, and they did not always work together in harmony. Hardy was to some degree interested in exploring his characters' psychologies, though impelled less by curiosity than by sympathy. Occasionally he felt the impulse to comedy (in all its detached coldness) as well as the impulse to farce, but he was more often inclined to see tragedy and record it. He was also inclined to literary realism in the several senses of that phrase; He wanted to describe ordinary human beings. He wanted to speculate on their dilemmas rationally (and, unfortunately even schematically); and he wanted to record precisely the material universe. Finally, he wanted to be more than a realist. He wanted to transcend what he considered to be the banality of solely recording things exactly and to express as well his awareness of the occult and the strange. In his novels these various impulses were sacrificed to each other inevitably and often inevitably, because Hardy did not care in the way that novelists such as Flaubert or James learned, and therefore took paths of least resistance. Thus one impulse often surrendered to a fresher one and, unfortunately, instead of exacting a compromise, simply disappeared. A desire to throw over reality a light that never was might give way abruptly to the desire on the part of what we might consider a novelist scientist to record exactly and concretely the structure and texture of a flower. In this instance, the new impulse was at least an energetic one. And thus its indulgence did not result in a relaxed style. But on other occasions Hardy abandoned a perilous risky and highly energizing impulse in favor of what was for him the fatally relaxing impulse to classify and schematize abstractly. When a relaxing impulse was indulged, the style--that sure index of an author's literary worth--was certain to become verbose. Hardy's weakness derived from his apparent inability to control the comings and goings of these divergent impulses and from his unwillingness to cultivate and sustain the energetic and risky ones. He submitted of first one and then another, and the spirit blew where it listed; hence the unevenness of any one of his novels. His most controlled novel, Under the Greenwood Tree, prominently exhibits two different but reconcilable impulses--a desire to be a realist-historian and a desire to be a psychologist of love but the slight interlockings of plot are not enough to bind the two completely together. Thus even this book splits into two distinct parts.

单选题What scenario does the author wish for young people when arrive back from their travels?

单选题With 22 years on the job, Jackie Bracey could be considered a career employee of the Internal Revenue Service. But she defies any stereotype of an over-eager agent running down a reluctant taxpayer. Instead, she spends her time defending people who owe the government money. Ms. Bracey, based in Greensboro N. C., is a taxpayer advocate, a created by Congress in 1998 as part of the kinder, gentler theme adopted by the tax collection agency. Bracey and advocates at 73 Other offices nationwide, backed by 2,100 field workers and staff, go to bat for taxpayers who are in financial straits because of something the agency has done or is about to do. Though it may seem contrary to the IRS, the advocate service not only helps taxpayers, but identifies procedural problems. The main goal, though, is for the ombudsman to step into a dispute a taxpayer is having with the IRS when it appears that something the IRS is doing, or planning, would create an undue hardship on the taxpayer. This can range from speeding up resolution of a dispute that has dragged on too long, to demanding that the IRS halt a collection action that the taxpayer can show he or she “is suffering or is about to suffer a significant hardship.” Taxpayer ombudsmen have been around in one form or another since 1979, says Nina Olson, the national taxpayer advocate. But they were given much more power in 1998 when Congress decided that the workers would no longer report to regional directors but to her office. While this gave them a great deal more authority, outside watchdogs say more can be done. “There is a long way to go to get an agency that feels independent and emboldened to work for taxpayers”, says Joe Seep, a vice president of the Washington-based tax-advocacy group. The taxpayers union also has complained that Congress and the Bush administration don’t seem to be taking the advocates seriously enough. Each year, the IRS group reports to Congress on the top problems that advocates see. Many of these are systemic problems that can gum up the works for both taxpayer and collector, such as a December notice from Ms. Olson that the IRS should have just one definition of a dependent child, rather than the three definitions currently used. While taxpayer advocates can help smooth things out in many cases, they cannot ignore laws. If taxpayers haven’t made legitimate claims for credits, there’s nothing the advocate can do to reverse that course. And Olson says that while taxpayers are free to use her service, they should keep in mind that it does not replace the normal appeals process and should be the last place a citizen calls upon for help, not the first. “We’re really there for .when the processes fall down,” she says. Every state has at least one taxpayer-advocate service office.

单选题With U.S. companies sitting on an estimated $1.8 trillion in cash, it raises the question: Why aren't they deploying more of their hoard to expand their businesses? Or one might channel John Maynard Keynes to ask: Where have the "animal spirits" gone? Although capital spending in the U.S. is up 12 percent since the lows of early 2009, it's still running $88 billion below the peak of $1.34 trillion reached in the first quarter of 2008, says Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. He doesn't expect capital spending to catch up to that peak level and officially start to expand until the second quarter of 2011. (LaVorgna's definition of capital spending includes physical equipment and software, but not structures such as new stores or manufacturing plants. Spending on structures is about 2 percent of gross domestic product, one-third the size of capital sending's contribution to GDP, he says.) "The trend and momentum have definitely turned and it's just a matter of time before you see other companies give way to capital spending, and eventually that will result in hiring," says LaVorgna. But with spending running $88 billion below peak, he says employment "should be farther along than it is." Companies that have built up a lot of cash are starting to take some chances such as expanding into new markets, which requires hiring new workers, says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting firm. U.S. companies have announced the hiring of 118,209 new employees through August, according to data collected by the firm. So who's stepping up to the plate? Some companies refuse to be cowed and are taking big, if calculated, chances, including ambitious capital projects, hiring new workers, and expanded investment in research and development, according to growth-oriented mutual fund managers contacted by Businessweek.com. If there's a common denominator, it's a perceived opportunity and confidence in sustainable demand, whether due to new trends in technology or to new markets that need certain products. Other names came from a list of the top-hiring U.S. companies through July 2010 compiled by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "We don't spend capital unless we have a new contract to supply oxygen, nitrogen, or hydrogen to our customers," says James Sawyer, Praxair's chief financial officer. "Those are 15-year contracts with minimal take-or-pay clauses written into them, which ensure we will get a good return on our capital investment, regardless of how the rest of the economy is doing." Some younger outfits with entrepreneurial managers who have lived through a few business cycles think their companies may be able to steal a march on competitors more reluctant to spend, says Aram Green, manager of Clear Bridge Advisors Small Cap Growth Fund. "There's clearly been a decision by management that 'This is not the time to take our foot off the accelerator. In fact, it's time to push harder and further distance our product from the competition.'/

单选题What is implied in the first sentence?

单选题Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage, based on its content?

单选题Treating waste water is energy intensive. In the US, it sucks up the equivalent output of four of the country's biggest power plants every year. But it needn't be such a drain on resources—soon it might be able to earn its keep. A team led by Hong Liu from Oregon State University in Corvallis has plans for microbial fuel cells that will reclaim energy from waste water and produce around 2.87 watts per litre of waste water. That is almost double the amount of electrical power usual for such a cell. And its by-products could be harnessed to create cheap, biodegradable plastics. Waste water holds huge amounts of energy, bound up in organic molecules, but it can be difficult to access. The Oregon fuel ceils run on microbes that would normally digest organic matter to produce water. In a fuel cell, though, isolated from oxygen, that conversion stops and electrons, which are bundled with protons and oxygen to form water, are pulled away from the microbes by the potential between a cathode and an anode, creating an electrical current. As well as transferring the mixture of microbes on the electrodes, the Oregon design has also managed to squash far more electrodes into the fuel cell than on previous versions. Liu says her lab aims to scale up the device within the next five years and make it cheaper. The by-products of waste water treatment can be harnessed too. Engineers are working on a way to convert methane into biodegradable plastics. The dream plastic would be biodegradable, made from organic materials, and break down easily. At the moment, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) seems like the best bet. But PHA plastics are manufactured by genetically modified bacteria fed on sugars in a process that is both expensive and complex, making it hard for them to compete with conventional plastics. In the past, researchers have used the by-products of waste water treatment to generate fuel and sometimes even to create plastics, but nearly all these attempts have focused on the solid waste and chemicals. Because the solid waste is made of many diverse components, it produces a less stable plastic. So Molly Morse of Mango Materials in California and colleagues are now using methane, another major by-product of treating waste water. Methanotrophs, simple organisms that feed on methane, are much better at converting it into polymers than typical bacteria are at converting sugar into plastics. Methane is pumped into a vat of methanotrophs—harvested from the waste water treatment plant itself—along with a bubbling stream of oxygen and a few other nutrients. The end result is a polymer powder that can be separated from the mass of bacteria and turned into pellets for shaping into commercial plastic products.

单选题[e] still

单选题If you leave a loaded weapon lying around, it is bound to go off sooner or later. Snow- covered northern Europe heard the gunshot loud and clear when Russia cut supplies to Ukraine this week as part of a row about money and power, the two eternal battlegrounds of global energy. From central Europe right across to France on the Atlantic seaboard, gas supplies fell by more than one-third. For years Europeans had been telling themselves that a cold-war enemy which had supplied them without fail could still be depended on now it was an ally (of sorts). Suddenly, nobody was quite so sure. Fearing the threat to its reputation as a supplier, Russia rapidly restored the gas and settled its differences with Ukraine. But it was an uncomfortable glimpse of the dangers for a continent that imports roughly half its gas and that Gerard Mestrallet, boss of Suez, a French water and power company, expects to be importing 80% of its gas by 2030 much of it from Russia. It was scarcely more welcome for America, which condemned Russia's tactics. And no wonder: it consumes one-quarter of the world's oil, but produces only 3% of the stuff. Over the coming years, the world's dependence on oil looks likely to concentrate on the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia. Russian oil had seemed a useful alternative. Fear of the energy weapon has a long history. When producers had the upper hand in the oil embargo of 1973-74, Arab members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut supply, sowing turmoil and a global recession. When consumers had the upper hand in the early 1990s, the embargo cut the other way. After Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, the world shut in 5m barrels a day (b/d) of production from the two countries in an attempt to force him out. With oil costing ＄60 a barrel, five times more than the nominal price in 1999, and spot prices for natural gas in some European and American markets at or near record levels, power has swung back to the producers for the first time since the early 1980s. Nobody knows how long today's tight markets will last. "It took us a long time to get there and it will take us a long time to get back," says Robin West, chairman of PFC Energy in Washington. A clutch of alarmist books with titles such as "The Death of Oil" predict that so little oil is left in the ground that producers will always have pricing power. The question is how worried consumers should be. What are the threats to energy security and what should the world do about them? The answers suggest a need for planning and a certain amount of grim realism, but not for outright panic.

单选题According to Larson, to redress the traffic problem______